078

Reynard laughed heartily and then leaned back against the wagon side with a smile. Perun shook his head in the front seat but remained silent. Kwyn remained motionless except for the occasional movement of her hands as she worked the reins.

The fire cracked in the waning evening light. Perun and Reynard sat around the fire not talking to each other. Cytheria and Kywn were off gathering herbs for dinner, as it was their night to cook. Perun was wearing a loose fitting white cotton shirt with brown woolen pants. Reynard was dressed similarly but his clothing showed a higher degree of workmanship and accents. Of course his still wore his large black hat.

Perun rummaged in his pack and pulled out a small square grass mat that was rolled up into a tube. Reynard watched the man's fluid practiced motions. Perun unrolled the mat onto a flat piece of earth near to the fire's warmth and light. As Perun unrolled the mat he revealed a small brown back. He untied the knot keeping the bag closed and emptied it's contents onto the mat. Silently Reynard edged closer to watch as Peru idly played with the small pieces of black iron fashioned into a myriad of shapes. Some of the items were replicas of everyday objects just shrunk down to a smaller size, some were symbols, and still others were figures in strange contorted shapes standing on small iron pillars.

"I haven't seen anything like that for some time." Reynard commented.

"Sometimes it pays to keep the old traditions alive." Perun said as he idly arranged the iron pieces on the mat. Then with a sweep of his hand he brought all of the pieces towards him and back into the cloth bag. He shook the back three times and reached his hand into the back.

"Are you sure," Reynard began halting Perun mid motion, "that you wish to awake such powerful currents at this stage of the game?"

Perun brought his hand out of the bag and scattered three of the iron pieces onto the mat. "Nothing needs to be awakened Reynard. And this is not news to you. We would not be together on this journey if you were unaware of the powers that have taken the field."